The union representing the 2,000 workers at Plainview’s Cargill Meat Solutions before its closure in early 2013 has submitted a petition calling for assistance in the form of extended unemployment insurance, health care subsidies, job retraining and other benefits for those who were laid off on Feb. 1, 2013.

The UFCW Local 540 says it is continuing to fight for the former employees by submitting the request to the U.S. Department of Labor, which offers a Trade Adjustment Assistant Program to provide such assistance to mitigate the negative impacts on workers, farmers, businesses and communities due to increased imports under trade agreements.

“Our initial assessment is that overall U.S. imports for most of the beef products made at the Plainview plant increased substantially prior to the plant’s shutdown,” said Johnny Rodriguez, president of UFCW Local 540.

In a press release, the UFCW says the Plainview plant produced boxed beef, tissue pallets, offal, grease, hides and rendering products such as tallow, bone meal and blood meal. The union’s investigation showed that total U.S. beef imports of these products increased by $99.7 million in the 12 months preceding the closure — during which time a severe drought forced packers to import more beef to try to secure enough supply to keep their plants operating at full capacity.

“So we are now petitioning the Department of Labor with this information,” said Rodriquez. “We believe that the petition will convince the department to initiate a further investigation to determine whether these increased imports caused the Plainview plant to lose enough sales to contribute to the plant’s shutdown,” Rodriguez added. “If the department determines that imports contributed importantly to the plant closure, then the workers will become eligible for substantial benefits under the Trade Assistance Program.”

“This union is going to continue to fight for the workers who have lost their livelihoods through no fault of their own,” Rodriguez concluded. “That’s what this petition does, and that’s what the Trade Assistance Program is for. I’m confident that the Department of Labor will agree, and that the workers at the plant will get some additional relief.”

According to the union, at the time of the closure, UFCW Local 540 worked to minimize the economic disaster to workers brought on by the plant closure, ensuring that Cargill fulfilled financial obligations to workers under their union contract, and under the WARN Act. The union also worked together with Cargill to give workers the opportunity to relocate to other Cargill plants, including Friona, ensuring that people would not be brought on as “new hires” but would keep their benefits and eligibility for pensions.